Nigerian bank, Access Bank, enters Kenya’s banking sector after acquiring mid-tier lender, Transnational Bank

Nigerian bank, Access Bank, enters Kenya’s banking sector after acquiring mid-tier lender, Transnational Bank

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• Access Bank will acquire a 93.57%% stake in Transnational bank.
• The Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) has approved the deal.
• Access Bank joins a growing list of Nigerian banks already operating in the Kenyan market. 

               
           
               
                   

Nigerian bank, Access Bank, has acquired a Kenyan mid-tier lender associated with retired President Daniel Moi for an undisclosed amount.

               
           
               
                   

Access Bank, which has a presence in seven African countries, will acquire a 93.57% stake in Transnational bank which has 28 branches across Kenya.

               
           
               
                   

The Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) has approved the deal. The Central Bank of Kenya is, however, yet to make public whether or not it has approved the acquisition.

               
           
               
                   

“It is notified for general information that in exercise of the powers conferred upon the CAK by section 46 (6) (a) (ii) of the Competition Act, the Competition Authority has authorised the proposed transaction as set out herein,” CAK director-general Wang’ombe Kariuki said in a Gazette notice.

               
           
               
                   

                                   

An Access Bank Plc branch in Lagos (Pulse)

               

               
           
               
                   

Top owners of the 35-year-old Kenyan bank include companies owned by close associates of Moi, including Joshua Kulei, Simeon Nyachae and the late (former Vice President) George Saitoti.

               
           
               
                   

Sovereign Trust, a company associated with Joshua Kulei, a former aide to the ex-President, has 23.03% shareholding in Transnational.

               
           
               
                   

Access Bank joins a growing list of Nigerian banks already operating in the Kenyan market including United Bank of Africa (UBA) and Guaranty Trust Bank.

               
           
               
                   

Access Bank with assets worth Sh1.17 trillion, has a presence in Gambia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Congo, Zambia, China and the UK.

               
           
               
                   

All you need to know about Transnational bank

               
           
               
                   

                                   

Transnational-Bank in Kenya (victormatara)

               

               
           
               
                   

The lender started off as Transnational Finance in 1984, a non-bank, deposit-taking institution that also provided hire purchase services and other loans. The Tier 4 ban focused mainly on the agricultural sector.

               
           
               
                   

It established a separate fully-fledged bank in 1985 dubbed Trans National Bank Ltd. 

               
           
               
                   

The two financial firms merged in 1996, and Transnational Finance ceased to exist.

               
           
               
                   

Access made a profit of Sh17.69 billion in the financial year ended December 2017. On the other hand, Transnational, with assets worth Sh10.2 billion made a loss of Sh71.8 million in the financial year ended December 2018, down from a profit of Sh36.4 million in the previous year.

Source: Nigerian bank, Access Bank, enters Kenya’s banking sector after acquiring mid-tier lender, Transnational Bank

- gist culled from pulseng